Friday 23rd September 2011

As I began collecting my thoughts to write this post I
noticed I had simply created a bullet point list. It felt powerful to me and I didn't want to dilute it with
additional banter.

A fresh
- start
- new banner inspired by Matt
- way of blogging
- and mindful type of eating

Aspiring to
- more home grown
- a life without supermarkets
- create little to NO trash
- stop and smell the slow cooking

Share more
- New Zealand
- Photography
- Thoughts
- Good Food

It's been an eventful year, and no matter how fiercely I've
wanted to produce some sort of content for this, my little spot on the web. For many and various different reasons it
hasn't happened. I don't want to bore you or apologise for not being here. I am also trying not to regret not
being here to welcome new visitors when I made being a ''featured chef'' on
ABC's (Australian Broadcasting Corporations) Foodi iPad App.

I can't change the year that's been, there are certain parts I
adored, certain parts I'm very proud of, and certain parts I would give my left leg to change. All I can do, all
any of us can do is look to the future, try, feed and nurture that path. The bullet point list above is a reminder for
me. A set of goals I guess, of the direction I hope my blogging, food writing and photography path will lead now with
this fresh start.

I've had fun creating a new Spring themed banner for the occasion.
Inspired as I said by Matt Armendariz's gorgeous creation. On the left as you
can see I've got a gardening theme going with some vintage seed packets, a Home Gardening guide and some thirst
quenching lemonade for after all the Spring sowing. On the right is a little spot of Kiwi inspired baking, milk and
honey, butter, sugar in a AGEE jar and our own hens' eggs. Afternoon tea of fresh pikelets, an old Edmonds
cornflour recipe advertisement and some handwritten recipes from my great Aunty Beryl's collection. There are also
a few pink fairies dotted in there as a hat tip to my most amazing and beautiful girls.

A fresh start and also as I listed above, my hope to mould a new, or at least "new to me" way of blogging.
Few recipes will be found here, they'll be saved for my online magazine issues which I plan to continue. Instead I
plan to blog more of my thoughts on being mindful (and yes, opinionated!) about the food J, our fairies and I grow,
source and naturally consume. Our aspiration to leave less of a nasty dirty footprint for future generations. Continue
to strive for better, more fulfilling food experiences. Support and create more meaningful relationships with our local
small producers and in turn develop a truly harmonious food culture and legacy for the health of all the creatures in
our community.

I hope this is not sounding all too "preachy". I don't want to
scare you off, especially on my first post back. All I know is that there's no time, no moment, no meal to waste in
this life, tomorrow isn't guaranteed. We have to compromise, I'm not denying that. I'm often frustrated
myself trying to decide where to draw the line, do I buy the cheaper, locally made, fair trade or the organic? More
often than not there's no perfect answer. But that doesn't mean we should grab for the worst or the not
particularly "super" market fare. It's important to know what we are putting into our mouths and into our
children's mouths. Every meal is an opportunity to experience the most amazing deliciousness, I think we should make
the most of that.

Now I've bored you silly with my rant, can I ask what would you like to see from me? Is there any topics you would
like me to cover? Any things you've missed while I've been MIA? Any old posts you loved and would like to see
more of... that type of thing? And I never did introduce or ask what you thought of my magazines, but perhaps
that's a whole other post in itself!